No kidding — Marlins need seasoning

Eovaldi solid in start, but reliever Koehler allows two homers in major league debut in loss to Brewers

September 5, 2012|By Craig Davis, Sun Sentinel

MIAMI — Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen has a habit of referring to all of his players as kids.

It's not a stretch with so much youth in the dugout. The remainder of the season is not as much about wins and losses as putting a fresh face on the future.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi brought a glimmer of hope to Marlins Park on Wednesday, if not a victory — the Brewers claimed that 8-5 behind a pair of two-run home runs by Rickie Weeks and one by Corey Hart.

A collaborative misadventure on the bases short-circuited a late-inning comeback as the Marlins fell to 2-6 on the homestand with Thursday's matinee remaining.

"It was huge. We found another way to lose. That's No. 935 ways we find to lose," an exasperated Guillen said of the rally killing play.

Eovaldi, 22, turned in his second consecutive solid outing in his eighth start since coming from the Dodgers in the Hanley Ramirez trade.

His costly mistake was grooving a fastball that Weeks smacked 418 feet off the wall above the Clevelander in the third. That came after Norichika Aoki prolonged the inning by legging out an infield hit.

Those were the only runs Eovaldi allowed in five innings. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth and pitched around a two-out double in the fifth.

"I was trying to go in with that fastball and left it right over the middle. His hands are so quick and he got all of the ball," Eovaldi said of Weeks' homer.

For the second night in a row a Marlins reliever made his major league debut. Unlike A.J. Ramos on Tuesday, Tom Koehler didn't strike out the side. He did strike out the first batter he faced, Martin Maldonado, and got the next two on fly balls.

Weeks welcomed Koehler to the majors the next inning with his second homer, this one into the Clevelander. Koehler, 25, who earned his first call-up after going 12-11 with a 4.17 ERA at Triple-A New Orleans, served the homer to Hart later in the inning. Hart added a two-run double in the ninth.

The highlight for Marlins fans was seeing John Buck push his average over .200 for the first time since May 15 during a four-run rally in the seventh.

Greg Dobbs, Bryan Petersen and Donovan Solano delivered run-scoring singles. But on Solano's hit, Petersen got thrown out when he ran up on Dobbs, who was held at third. Third-base coach Joe Espada first waved him home, then immediately threw up the stop sign.

"Everything went wrong on that play. You can't point to any one [individual]," Guillen said. "I don't think [Dobbs] had a chance to score. Being a former third-base coach, you don't want to take a risk on that particular play with nobody out."

Jose Reyes' sacrifice fly cut the Brewers' lead to 6-5. The threat died when Giancarlo Stanton, flied out to right.

Stanton, of course, is the most important of Ozzie's Kids. He is still only 22, though he reached the 30-homer plateau for the second consecutive season on Tuesday. He's the fifth player to do that before age 23, a short list that includes former Marlin Miguel Cabrera (2004-05).

Guillen said his only concern for Stanton is that his accomplishments don't lead to inflated expectations.

"I think we have to be realistic," Guillen said, defining that as home runs in the mid 30s and an average to .270-.280.

Stanton, who hit 34 homers last year, has a chance to top that despite missing a month following knee surgery.

"I think people come to see him hit home runs. You can feel it with the fans. A lot of people forget this kid is a good outfielder. He's played tremendous right field. He's got a great arm," Guillen said.

Stanton showed some of that in the fourth inning Wednesday when he rifled a strike to the plate that forced Hart to hold at third on Jean Sagura's line out with the bases loaded.